Why one pack beats twenty resources
Each resource costs the server startup time and the client a manifest fetch. Packs also let the streamer share identical textures between cars and keep server.cfg readable. The Pack Builder produces exactly the structure experienced server owners build by hand, in seconds.
Step 1: Prepare the inputs
Collect the converted resources as .zip files or folders, one per car. They can come straight from the converter, from My Garage in your dashboard, or from other sources as long as each has (or can be given) a manifest and meta files. Run problem cars through the Inspector first; the pack builder merges, it does not repair.
Step 2: Add them to the builder
Open the Car Pack Builder. Click "Add .zip files" and select all of them at once, or "Add folder" and pick a parent folder that contains one subfolder per car. Each car appears in the list with its size. Remove any with the ×. Free mode builds packs of up to 3 cars; Unlimited has no cap.
Step 3: Name the pack
The name becomes the resource folder and the ensure line. Use lowercase, underscores, no spaces: police_pack, supercars_v2. Leave "Keep identical shared assets once" ticked; it removes byte-identical duplicate files such as shared wheel or interior dictionaries.
Step 4: Build and read the summary
Click Build. The summary shows cars, spawn names, streamed files, how many duplicates were removed and the final size. Below it is the check list. Three kinds of findings matter most:
Step 5: Download and install
Download the pack zip and copy the folder into resources/. Copy the ensure line (button next to the download) into server.cfg. Restart. The pack's README lists every spawn name.
Step 6: Add cars later
Keep the original per-car zips. To add a car, drop the new one plus the existing pack folder into the builder and rebuild; the builder treats the old pack as one input and merges cleanly. Names inside data/ and stream/ are namespaced per car, so nothing collides.
What the builder writes
my_carpack/
├── fxmanifest.lua one manifest: files {}, data_file lines, scripts
├── README-pack.txt install steps + spawn names
├── data/<car>/*.meta per-car meta files
├── stream/<car>/* per-car models and textures (duplicates removed)
└── scripts/<car>/*.lua vehicle_names.lua etc, loaded as client scripts